Advocacy groups dispute numbers of homeless

There are just over 9,500 homeless people in Western Australia, according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics but homeless advocates say the number is severely under-estimated.

Advocacy group Homeless Connect says on any given night in Perth nearly 13,400 people are homeless.

The ABS estimated the homeless population by using last year's census data and found the rate of homelessness in Australia is up by 8 per cent since the 2006 census.

On census night last year more than 105,000 people, or half a per cent of the Australian population, were homeless.

Younger people are over-represented in the figures, with about 60 per cent of those without a permanent home aged 35 and under.

Most of the increase in homelessness comes from a jump in the number of people living in severely crowded dwellings, and about three quarters of the overall increase were people who were born overseas.

The Salvation Army has blamed the increase in over-crowding on high rents around the state.

A spokesman says a new centre for homeless people, comprising 102 beds, will be completed in East Perth in 12 months.

Shelter WA says it is difficult to judge how many people are affected but it suspects the number of youth and Aborigines who are homeless is greatly under-reported.

The WA ABS figures show a decrease in the number of homeless of almost 200 people compared to figures released in the 2001 census.

Homeless Connect says the ABS figures do not take into account the effects of the global financial crisis and the impact on the most vulnerable in society.

It is holding its annual appeal this Wednesday and is asking for non-perishable food items and toiletries.